EA Sports on Monday said it will name the cover athlete for the upcoming Madden NFL 17 on Thursday. The announcement will be broadcast on SportsCenter, which airs at 4 p.m. MT on ESPN.

It is the first time since 2009 fans will not vote for the cover athlete.

No Broncos player has ever graced the cover of the game. With Denver entering the 2016 season as the defending Super Bowl champion, here are a few names who deserve the spotlight:

C.J. Anderson
The Broncos’ running back’s stats weren’t mindblowing in the regular season — 152 carries, 720 rushing yards, five touchdowns — but he did get Denver’s sole offensive touchdown at Super Bowl 50. And EA Sports enjoys putting running backs on the Madden covers — there’s been seven, more than any other position. Quarterbacks are second at six, which leads to…

Peyton Manning
There’s been one Peyton who has been a cover athlete and amazingly it wasn’t The Sheriff — former Broncos and then-Browns running back Peyton Hillis was the face of Madden NFL 12. So here are the arguments for Manning: He’s one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in the history of the NFL, holding numerous records. And he’s retired. No need to worry about the curse for him.

Von Miller
The Super Bowl 50 MVP has been on a whirlwind media tour since leading the Broncos to their third Lombardi Trophy. From “Dancing With the Stars” to his cavalcade of talk-show appearances, Miller’s popularity has risen exponentially in recent months. It makes sense he will be the face of the game. Also, just imagine his bevy of sack dances featured in the loading screen.

They shouldgo back to the old format and put a player from the Super Bowl team on the cover. I would put Von.

dphelps&3

VON MILLER…

Peyton Manning is great, he was falling apart though, but we couldn’t of done it without him. He did get his scores up, but it seems he could have done better, and with an interception in the most important game? I feel he fell just short of the bar of SUper Bowl QB… he still did great though!

CJ Andersen did a great job as RB. If it wasn’t for Von Miller’s strip sack, and fumble recoveries, and the amount of Sacks he had on Newton… maybe CJ would have it! As much of a good job as CJ did,

There is no competing with what Von Miller did! Von Miller should be on the Cover!

A&E reporter John Wenzel has covered a variety of topics for The Denver Post over the years, including video games, comedy, music and the fine arts. He's been playing and loving video games since his dad brought home a sweet ColecoVision in 1983. Catch him on PSN as beardsandgum.

Hugh got his start writing for the Cheyenne and Woodmen Edition newspapers in Colorado Springs. In 2011 he moved to Denver where he has written for Denver Urban Spectrum and Colorado Community Media’s Wheat Ridge Transcript. Hugh joined The Denver Post in 2014 as an editorial assistant.